


4:00 AM

by yawawoo



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Boys eating ramyeon, Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 13:07:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14895176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yawawoo/pseuds/yawawoo
Summary: A time in Chae Hyungwon's life which involves  spicy kimchi ramyeon and Lee Minhyuk in the wee hours of the morning.





	4:00 AM

**Author's Note:**

> Of course, beta'd by the aaaamaaaziiing [averyblue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/averyblue/pseuds/averyblue)!!!
> 
> This is for the Domestic square in my HyungHyuk bingo card! :)
> 
> I hope this makes my fellow HyungHyuk stans happy, because writing it made me happy uwu ♥
> 
> Title is from [this YouTube playlist](https://youtu.be/OxginLSLGOE).

Hyungwon is hungry and he can’t sleep. And he really, _really_ wants some _ramyeon_.

He knows there are still a lot of instant ramyeon in the cupboard. Of course they're mostly Hoseok’s, but the older man never minds when other members mooch off his stash. If anything, he would just buy more and stock up until the cupboard doors won’t close properly.

Hyungwon is still sprawled haphazardly on their couch, and he hasn’t moved since he and Kihyun came back from their last schedule in the last forty-eight hours. Counting by days simply doesn’t work anymore when day and night just blur together during comeback preparations, and Hyungwon has just simply divided his time to ‘work’ and ‘rest’ in his second year as an idol.

When he and Kihyun arrived, the dorm was silent except for Jooheon’s faint snoring from one of the rooms. Hyungwon had thrown himself onto the couch as soon as he was close enough to it. Kihyun was so tired that he didn’t even nag him to undress properly and go sleep on his own bed. Hyungwon had immediately drifted off to sleep after he heard Kihyun closing the bathroom door behind him.

Apparently he hasn’t been asleep that long; it’s only been roughly an hour, and he knows that it’s his twisting stomach that disturbs his sleep.

Hyungwon shifts to lay on his back, staring at the dim ceiling above him. His coat is all twisted around his frame, and it’s kind of uncomfortable laying on the lumps it creates under his back. He frowns at himself - why does he have to crave _ramyeon_ when there’s no one who’s awake to make it for him?

Waking up Kihyun is out of the question; Hyungwon doesn’t have the heart to when he can clearly recall the bags under the shorter man’s eyes and the listless look he has whenever he’s exhausted. As much as he enjoys tormenting Kihyun, Hyungwon would always let him have his rest. But he’s _starving_ , and he’s eaten too much Cheetos and Choco Pies between breaks earlier. He needs some sort of real food. Spicy instant ramyeon and kimchi are what he needs. (And they _are_ real food for busy Korean idols, alright?)

Hyungwon laments his misfortune by sloppily taking off his coat in an attempt to feel more comfortable, hoping that he can just fall back asleep and eat when the others are up. Hopefully stomach acid won’t kill him in his sleep. He tries to get rid of all things attached to his body that prevent this from happening, which involves a lot of wiggling since he’s making sure that his body stays horizontal; his coat, his belt, his earrings, his phone. Hyungwon fishes out the rectangular electronic device that digs into his hip bone from inside the pocket of his jeans. It’s cool to the touch from inactivity, though the notification light is blinking. He squints at the screen brightness and promptly lowers it, managing to accidentally clear all his notifications. Oh, well.

He sighs as he stares at his home screen, hoping that his eyes will get tired because of the light. But his hunger is persistent, and he’s starting to feel a little nauseous from it. Hyungwon bites his lower lip. His phone slips from his hand when it suddenly vibrates, the corner angled to inflict the most damage possible on his chin. He weakly curses into the dark, but it comes out croaky. Apparently he still has the energy to feel irritated as he glares at the new notification, rubbing his sore chin. It’s a Katalk message. From one Lee Minhyuk.

 

 

 

> **Minhyukkie** :
> 
> _Hey_
> 
> _U awake?_

Before Hyungwon can even fix his hold on his phone to type properly, another message comes in.

 

 

 

> **Minhyukkie** :
> 
> _Oh!! Its read!!_
> 
> _Wht r u doing up_
> 
> _Ur back at dorm right_
> 
> **You** :
> 
> _i’m on the couch_
> 
> _starving_

 

Hyungwon locks his phone again after that and closes his eyes. His phone vibrates multiple times, but he doesn’t read Minhyuk’s replies. His eyelids have started to feel heavy again, and he’s leaving his fate up to the universe.

He can hear the sound of sirens, faint because of how high they are in the building, or maybe because of the distance, or maybe because he’s falling back asleep. But then he can hear the sound of a door opening, and the soft _thud-thud-thud_ of bare feet on wooden flooring, and then there’s a warm, familiar hand smoothing his bangs back from his forehead.

“Hyungwon-ah,” is Minhyuk’s raspy whisper, and Hyungwon’s muscles relax. Perhaps he’s become nervous with anticipation waiting for someone who’ll actually leave their bed to check on him. And of course it’s Minhyuk.

“Mm,” Hyungwon says without opening his eyes. Minhyuk’s lightly scratching his scalp.

“You want to order something? Chicken?”

“Ramyeon. With kimchi,” Hyungwon mumbles. The scratching stops, so he opens his eyes.

Minhyuk is leaning over him from the back of the couch, his face shadowed from the backlight, but Hyungwon can just make out almost all his features: his cute messy bangs, his squinted left eye, his lower lip stuck in a slight, natural pout.

“Alright. I’ll go make it,” Minhyuk says easily and disappears from his sight. Light from the kitchen soon floods a portion of the apartment.

Hyungwon blinks slowly. Is he still half-awake? Is this a dream? It _could_ be a dream, but at the same time it’s like reliving the memories from his earlier years. Gwangju boys Lee Minhyuk and Chae Hyungwon chasing their dream together. Living in a tiny apartment, living off instant _ramyeon_ and energy drinks, talking over plastic cups half-filled with artificial seasoning. But then today’s Minhyuk manages to topple a pot or two and there’s clanging from the general direction of the kitchen, and Hyungwon finds himself wide awake. Minhyuk’s hissed curse brings a smile to his lips.

Hyungwon runs a hand through his hair, sitting up. He stretches, a yawn that rattles his whole being escaping from his mouth. He turns to see Minhyuk placing a medium-sized pot on the stove and igniting the fire. Hyungwon watches Minhyuk move about the small space of their kitchen, tracking his busy hands: pulling out three packs of  _ramyeon,_ pushing long bangs back from his face, opening the fridge door and picking at his lower lip. His upper body disappears behind the door of the lower compartment, and he emerges with their huge, half-empty plastic kimchi container which he slides on the counter with a dull clatter. He then opens the upper shelf and pulls out a full, 2-liter water bottle, cracking open the cap easily, his arm muscles flexing. He turns the opposite way to face the pot again and pours the chilled water into it. Hyungwon frowns.

“What are you doing?” Hyungwon croaks sleepily from his position. He doesn’t expect his voice to ring out loudly in the silence. He’s glad Changkyun is still out on a schedule with Hyunwoo and Hoseok, or else the light sleeper would’ve been woken up by his voice.

Minhyuk turns and puts his index finger in front of his lips. That prompts Hyungwon to finally unglue his butt from the couch and approach him.

“Why are you putting cold water in the pot?” Hyungwon asks again in a lowered voice as soon as he is beside Minhyuk, peeking into the silvery gold pot meant for all _ramyeon-_ related cooking. The water is still.

“It’ll taste better with bottled water,” Minhyuk says as he reaches for a packet of Shin ramyeon, arm brushing Hyungwon’s chest in the process. “It’s what Kihyunnie says. I guess we’ll see if he’s right.”

Hyungwon doesn’t say anything to that, just leans his hip to the cold faux marble of the countertop, grabbing a packet for himself to open. “Why are you cooking three?”

“I’m hungry too,” the older man says amidst the sounds of crinkling plastic wrappers.

Maybe it’s the early hours or the sleepiness shrouding them both, but then an easy silence falls on them. Quiet moments with Minhyuk are rare, but not unfamiliar to Hyungwon. When they were younger, they were more frequent and could be categorized into many: tired silences, annoyed silences, it’s-been-so-hard-but-I’m-not-giving-up silences. Usually these silences were broken by quiet sniffling or hesitant apologies because Hyungwon was even worse with words and Minhyuk wasn’t as confident in speaking his mind yet. Nowadays there’s contemplative silences and content ones, shared with the rest of the band. Now, with just Lee Minhyuk, it’s neither. It’s like time stops and there’s just the two of them in the quiet hours of the morning, looking at each other with mirrored expressions only both of them share.

Minhyuk takes Hyungwon’s hand in his, but it’s Hyungwon who pulls him in closer. Minhyuk shuffles away from the stove to stand directly in front of him, their thighs touching as Hyungwon wraps Minhyuk’s arms around himself.  Hyungwon’s eyes droop as he watches a bashful smile bloom on Minhyuk’s lips, so close that their exhales mingle. Minhyuk smells faintly of aftershave, face cleanser, and his room. Hyungwon puts his own lanky arms around his neck and nuzzles the warm patch of skin between Minhyuk’s ear and neck, feeling Minhyuk shiver from the cold tip of his nose.

Minhyuk settles his weight fully on Hyungwon, and they’re embracing just like that, content and familiar. Minhyuk runs his palms soothingly on Hyungwon’s back and asks, “What’s this?”

“Waiting for the water to boil,” Hyungwon drawls into his neck.

“What an interesting way to pass the time,” Minhyuk speaks again. “You still smell like foundation and hairspray.”

Hyungwon half-heartedly clicks his tongue and pulls back to look Minhyuk in the eye. “Fine, get away from me then.”

“But you’re the one who hugged me first!”

“Shh,” Hyungwon hisses, then envelops Minhyuk’s face in his palms to kiss him.

Minhyuk laughs into it, but quietens and settles comfortably when Hyungwon slumps a little so that their heads meet in a comfortable angle. It starts with little, warming-up pecks first; the kind of small, quick kisses that awakens both their memories and nerves. Then they become slower and their lips meld together; Hyungwon’s plush ones and Minhyuk’s pliant ones creating a practiced dynamic, familiar and warm. When Hyungwon licks into Minhyuk’s mouth, he can taste his own pinewood toothpaste and strawberry. It’s such a Lee Minhyuk thing to suck on a lollipop after brushing his teeth.

Hyungwon chases after the lingering sweetness, and Minhyuk opens up to him so readily. He has Hyungwon’s t-shirt fisted in his hands, shaky exhales escaping from his nose and caressing Hyungwon’s cheek as they look for a better angle. Hyungwon’s fingers finds his ear, and he strokes a line down the unadorned lobe, earning a tiny whine from the older man. Their tongues meet lazily, gliding in careful movements to keep the kiss from getting too sloppy. But it’s a little hard not to push harder, suck a little more forcefully, when Minhyuk’s making all the right noises that puts Hyungwon on edge.

The kiss finally breaks when both runs out of breath, and their foreheads bump into each other’s gently. Hyungwon’s arms slide down to rest on the small of Minhyuk’s back. Minhyuk cups his face with one hand, and he wipes at the wetness on Hyungwon’s lower lip distractedly. There’s a beautiful shade of red on Minhyuk’s cheeks, and Hyungwon kisses them. Minhyuk blinks, uneven and so adorable, and Hyungwon pushes the blond bangs from his eyes.

Minhyuk is the first one to look away. The water has started to slowly boil, so he pulls away from their tangle of limbs. He takes out noodles from their packs and stacks them on a wrapper, licking at his own lips. He shakes out the noodle crumbs from an emptied packet, holding them out to Hyungwon. The taller doesn’t pick them from Minhyuk’s upturned palm, instead opening his mouth and letting Minhyuk feed him the bland pieces of dried noodles. Minhyuk feeds himself the leftover crumbs once Hyungwon shakes off his offer for more.

“We’re out of eggs,” Minhyuk says as he grabs Hyungwon’s hips to move him aside to reach the drawer that houses a pair of long wooden cooking chopsticks. Hyungwon lets him because he’s now liking the proximity. “We might need to go grocery shopping tomorrow. Today.”

“I’ll go with you,” Hyungwon says, settling back to his original position, leaning his head on the cupboard behind him. He watches Minhyuk pour three packets of red, red seasoning altogether to the boiling water like that famous, salt-sprinkling chef. He’s about to laugh but a sneeze interrupts him.

A full-blown smile finally graces Minhyuk’s lips, exposing his fine row of teeth and crinkling up his entire face. Hyungwon thinks Minhyuk looks a lot like his mother with his face scrunches up like that, and he’s never once lied when he says Minhyuk is adorable.

Hyungwon chuckles soundlessly, his shoulders shaking, bringing a hand to his cover his face. He feels heady and giddy, and Lee Minhyuk makes him forget it’s only four in the morning.

“What? It’s awesome that I managed to only spill a bit of it,” Minhyuk rasps as he stirs the broth.

“You’re ridiculous,” Hyungwon says, taking a deep breath to prevent himself from laughing out loud.

Minhyuk laughs that little, high-pitched laugh of his. “I think I should put the noodles in now, right?”

“You’re seriously asking me?”

Minhyuk throws him a look. “Right. Well, you should still be grateful even if this turns out too soggy since I’m making it for you.”

“Of course. No one’s worse than me in cooking,” Hyungwon says, and Minhyuk giggles at that.

Hyungwon then assumes a more active role in the ramyeon cooking process to distract himself from gluing himself to Minhyuk’s back. He takes out what he thinks is enough kimchi for three portions of noodles and puts them on the lid to cut into smaller, bite-sized pieces using a pair of kitchen scissors. Minhyuk doesn’t comment on the amount he’s preparing and starts putting in the noodles to the boiling soup. Hyungwon watches the way his fingers hold the chopsticks and gets lost in his own thoughts for a while.

“Put in the kimchi now, Hyungwon-ah,” Minhyuk’s voice pulls him out from his spacing out, and Hyungwon works on carefully sliding the cut up vegetable into the pot. Minhyuk stirs and occasionally pulls up noodles to see if they’re cooked enough. Hyungwon straightens his back as the familiar and delicious smell of spicy kimchi ramyeon fills his nose, his mouth watering.

Hyungwon silently hands Minhyuk a Gudetama kitchen mitt, and the stove is turned off. “Take out the bowls,” Minhyuk says as he pulls it on and takes the handle of the steaming pot.

Hyungwon takes out two bowls and two pairs of stainless chopsticks and spoon. He walks to the rarely used wooden dining table tucked in a corner of the kitchen, pushing a luggage out of the way with his knee to make room for the chairs. The random paraphernalia on the table have been pushed aside to make room for the food; Hyungwon spies two of Jooheon's snapbacks and a beanie, a small, flattened vitamin box, and a crumpled pizza place receipt among them. Minhyuk has put an old dish towel under the pot, and Hyungwon’s glad he does it because Kihyun’s going to throw a fuss if there’s a burnt stain on it. Hyungwon decides to sit down and stare at the food finally served in front of him. He waits for Minhyuk to come back with cola and glasses.

“The visual looks okay,” Minhyuk remarks as he stirs the noodles around a bit. He takes Hyungwon’s bowl and serves him a lot of noodles, pouring a lot of soup for him too.

“What, you didn’t taste it first?” Hyungwon asks him.

“You know I didn’t. Can’t be that bad,” Minhyuk shrugs as he serves himself a portion.

They say their thanks and start with drinking the soup. Hyungwon burns his lips and tongue but he doesn’t care; it’s the taste that he craves so much, and it’s so good and perfect and he feels like crying a little. Minhyuk wows beside him, “Woah, isn’t this like, really good?”

Hyungwon doesn’t reply because he’s stuffing his face with noodles. Minhyuk chews and laughs at Hyungwon, pushing pink fringes away so that they don’t fall into his soup. “Slow down, Hyungwon-ah.”

They fall into silence again, this time busy with food. Hyungwon can feel sweat gathering on his neck and back, and it’s so good that he finishes all his soup before treating himself to a second serving. He makes sure to leave enough for Minhyuk and sips on soda before starting again. He can feel Minhyuk observing him the whole time he’s eating from the corner of his eye. The older man has pulled one leg up and crosses it on top of the other. Hyungwon accepts the pieces of kimchi Minhyuk puts into his bowl and chews slowly this time, savoring the goodness that is instant ramyeon and kimchi. Made by his boyfriend. His lifesaver. His everything.

It’s only when the pot is cleared and the bottle of soda is emptied when Hyungwon finds it in himself to be able speak again. He leans back on his seat, palming his full stomach and looking at Minhyuk on his right. The older man is trying to fish out the last pieces of kimchi from the soup, hovering over the pot with a look of concentration on his face. Minhyuk finds one soggy piece and puts it in his mouth. His lips are red from the hot soup.

“Wow,” Hyungwon says, dabbing his lips then his sweaty neck. Minhyuk turns to him, a squint in his left eye and a small smile on his lips.

“It’s even better seeing you eating so well,” Minhyuk says, sucking on his teeth. He plays with his chopsticks, twirling them in his empty bowl.

Hyungwon looks at him and says nothing. He knows he’s probably giving Minhyuk a look so lovestruck that it’s cheesy and ridiculous, but in that moment his heart is just so full of fondness and love for Lee Minhyuk that he doesn’t care. It probably has something to do with the fact that he’s pleasantly full too, but he also never lies about his feelings for the blond man.

At that moment, beeping sounds can be heard coming from the door, and soon Changkyun, Hyunwoo, Hoseok and their manager trudge into the apartment. All three members sniff the air, and their heads turn simultaneously to the general direction of the kitchen. When they see no one in front of the stove, they finally look at Hyungwon and Minhyuk looking back at them.

“ _Ya!_ You guys made ramyeon? Did you leave some for me?” Hoseok is first to approach them with a hopeful look, Hyunwoo following close behind him. Hoseok pouts when he sees the empty pot.

“Hyung, Jooheonnie and Kihyunnie are sleeping,” Minhyuk says to him. Hoseok’s pout intensifies.

“Both of you are okay, right? Or is it going to be a delayed effect of food poisoning?” Changkyun pipes up, snatching Hyungwon’s glass of soda from his hand.

“Rude. It wasn’t Hyungwonnie who made it,” Minhyuk says, kicking the youngest member lightly.

“Let’s make ramyeon for ourselves!” Hoseok says to Hyunwoo, who laughs at his whiny tone but follows him to their room to change.

“We just ate,” their manager says, but there isn’t much inflection in his words for them to really mean anything.

Hyungwon and Minhyuk sits around on their dining table some more. Changkyun tiptoes into the room where Jooheon and Kihyun sleeps, and it’s ten minutes before Hoseok and Hyunwoo appears from the bathroom all changed and free of makeup.

Hyungwon yawns, but he gathers the empty dishes and gets up to clean them in the sink. Minhyuk’s disappeared into his room, probably to bother Changkyun a little. Hoseok waits for Hyungwon to clean the pot and dry it before setting to cook seven packets of ramyeon with Hyunwoo. Hyungwon quietly shuffles to Minhyuk’s room, poking his head in and seeing Changkyun lounging on his top bunk only in his boxers.

“Minhyuk-hyung’s in the bathroom,” Changkyun says in a low voice.

“Hoseok-hyung wants you to eat with them,” Hyungwon relays the message. Changkyun nods and starts to move to get down from his bed. Just then Minhyuk emerges from the bathroom.

“I’m going back to sleep,” Minhyuk says as he stands in front of Hyungwon at the door. Hyungwon nods and kisses him good night.

“Cute,” Changkyun coos as he passes them on his way out.

Hyungwon agrees. “Night.”

“Night,” Minhyuk smiles at him.

Hyungwon is content, and he’s very ready to sleep. And today too, he really, _really_ loves Lee Minhyuk.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Kimchi ramyeon is so good ;___; and so is HyungHyuk! ♥  
> I'm writing this for my fellow HyungHyuk stans on Twitter. ;) 
> 
> P. S:  
> You're very welcome to screech and cry about HyugHyuk with me on [@hyunghyukheon](https://twitter.com/hyunghyukheon) :')
> 
> Comments and kudos appreciated! Come out, HyungHyuk stans! (uwu)♥


End file.
